As has been the pattern with Fresno State baseball this season, mediocre bullpen pitching hurt the Bulldogs on Tuesday in their game against San Jose State. The Bulldogs lost to the Spartan 10-3.
The Bulldogs needed eight pitchers to get through the nine-inning loss. Fresno State coach Mike Batesole pulled starting pitcher Aaron Gillis after facing eight batters in one inning of work. No Fresno State pitcher threw more than two innings.
There were various issues throughout the pitching staff. Gillis and reliever Tyler Stirewalt each hit two San Jose State batters. Jake Shull and Tyler Linehan simply got tired too quickly and started giving up hits.
The Bulldog pitching staff had five walks and four hit batters in the game. On the season, they have already given up 43 walks and had 23 hit by pitches.
Batesole said he is well aware of the team’s problem.
“We’re giving way too many free base runners to the other team,” Batesole said. “You look at our side and it’s not happening.”
In contrast, the Spartans only used five pitchers through nine innings, almost half as many as the Bulldogs. Those five pitchers gave up four walks and no hit batters.
The Bulldogs defense was not much help. They contributed three errors in the span of the first four innings. Two of them belonged to third baseman Kevin Viers.
Batesole said the teams’ shoddy pitching and defense is giving its opponents too many opportunities to hurt them, making mistakes that they cannot afford.
“Every inning I think that they scored there was a walk, a hit batter or an error,” Batesole said. “You just can’t give a Division I team those kinds of chances. We’re not good enough offensively to do that. It was sloppy on the mound, it was sloppy defensively and it was poor offensively.”
At the plate, the Bulldogs slapped the ball all over the field to no avail. When they were able to make contact it was either right at a Spartan fielder or they simply provided “Web Gem” worthy defense.
Right-fielder Brody Russell had a bright moment for Fresno State in the third inning when he hit the first home run of his collegiate career. However, with only three runs and three hits on the night, there was not much for the Bulldogs to be satisfied about in Tuesday night’s loss.
Batesole said he is not surprised with the team’s record given how they have played.
“The numbers add up to 3-and-8. You want to be 3-and-8; we’ve got a model for you. We’re putting guys on for free on their side and they won’t give us any.”
On Thursday, Fresno State will begin a four-game series against California (5-7) in Berkeley, Calif.
Batesole said the Bulldogs have yet to find solidity in their bullpen — something that has prevented wins.
“We’ve got to find a rhythm in the bullpen,” he said. “We’ve got to find a rhythm offensively, and we haven’t done that yet.”